Chocolate Easter nests

How adorable are these chocolate Easter nests? ….I’m not biased at all! I love creating cute and wholesome little things to decorate our Easter table with and I think these will be perfect.

There is certainly no shortage of chocolate flying around at Easter, is there? I try and make the best possible choices for us and for the environment when choosing the eggs or chocolate that I buy. That goes for the ingredients I use when making my gifts too – like these chocolate Easter nests. And always remember that when you get foil covered eggs – that foil can be recycled! All you need to do is roll the foil from all your eggs into one big ball and pop it into the recycling bin.

WHAT ARE THE HEALTH BENEFITS?

The base ingredient in the chocolate buckini clusters used here is buckwheat groats, which is a highly nutritious food. Buckwheat groats are a good source of easily digestible minerals such as zinc and magnesium(1), and also offer anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Additionally, they’re a great prebiotic food(2).

The health benefits of cacao are many (hurrah!) but making sure you are enjoying it in a good quality chocolate is key. A bar of Dairy Milk is not going to offer you the same health promoting qualities that a lovely fair-trade organic dark chocolate will. They’re not even in the same ball-park. So, choose your mini Easter eggs for these chocolate Easter nests wisely. If you do – your chocolate, along with the added cacao in the recipe, will be giving you a good dose of antioxidants, magnesium, polyphenols (good for the gut!) and flavonoids (good for heart and brain health)(3). I used Loving Earth BooBook eggs and some organic mini eggs here, which can be found online or in the health food store.

HOW TO MAKE THESE CHOCOLATE EASTER NESTS

STEP ONE

Grab all your ingredients and line a muffin tin with 12 baking cups.

STEP TWO

In a large bowl, mix together the Loving Earth chocolate buckinis, desiccated coconut, sultanas or cranberries, cacao nibs, cacao powder, vanilla and maple syrup. See note below recipe if you can’t find buckinis.

STEP THREE

Combine the coconut oil and cacao butter in a small saucepan and melt over a low heat. Do not let it boil and switch it off as soon as everything is melted.

STEP FOUR

Pour the oil mixture into the dry mixture and stir until everything is well combined.

STEP FIVE

Spoon the combined mixture evenly into the baking cups (make sure they’re filled to the top) then start to form out a nest. Either do this by pushing down on the mixture with a small glass – a shot glass is ideal – or the back of a teaspoon. Either method should leave you with a ‘nest’. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm up.

STEP SIX

Remove from the freezer and decorate with some mini chocolate eggs then place on your Easter table. Do try and remove them just before serving because they will melt and crumble if left out too long. Keep any extras in the fridge.

I hope you enjoy these and they bring much colour to your Easter table. If you’d like to try another Easter recipe, take a look at my Peanut Butter Eggs.

If you make these over Easter drop me a comment and let me know if you enjoyed them!

References

1. Evaluation of the content and bioaccessibility of iron, zinc, calcium and magnesium from groats, rice, leguminous grains and nuts
2. Buckwheat as a Functional Food and Its Effects on Health
3. Cocoa Bioactive Compounds: Significance and Potential for the Maintenance of Skin Health